Running for local office: Try it, you'll like it . . . maybe

Published: Thursday, July 11, 2013 at 05:08 PM.

Lost amidst the noise of the George Zimmerman trial, the abortion debate in Raleigh and these end-of-days rain storms, there’s something else going on in the news.

In a small office in Graham, county officials are taking down names of people willing to do a pretty thankless job for you and me. It’s the municipal filing period, brought to you by local newspapers and not anyone else, really.

Through next Friday, you can slap down what you were going to spend on lunch today, sign some forms for the nice board of elections ladies, and be eligible for November’s contest. You, too, can win a seat on your council or board of aldermen.

Really.

The even-year elections (be they presidential years or off-year elections dominated by the mid-term fight for control of Congress) get all the attention. Odd-year elections mean mayor and council seats, along with the occasional odd governor’s election, typically in Virginia, which seems to be electing people to important offices year-round for some reason.

But a lot of important decisions are made at the local level about taxation, development, where roads go, whether you can panhandle at the intersection near your house, where you can put up a sign for your business, what kind of public transportation system you’ll have and more other stuff than you could probably imagine unless you were elected.

In a world where so many hear “politician” when the phrase “public servant” is said, these are offices where you really can serve your community.

Lost amidst the noise of the George Zimmerman trial, the abortion debate in Raleigh and these end-of-days rain storms, there’s something else going on in the news.

In a small office in Graham, county officials are taking down names of people willing to do a pretty thankless job for you and me. It’s the municipal filing period, brought to you by local newspapers and not anyone else, really.

Through next Friday, you can slap down what you were going to spend on lunch today, sign some forms for the nice board of elections ladies, and be eligible for November’s contest. You, too, can win a seat on your council or board of aldermen.

Really.

The even-year elections (be they presidential years or off-year elections dominated by the mid-term fight for control of Congress) get all the attention. Odd-year elections mean mayor and council seats, along with the occasional odd governor’s election, typically in Virginia, which seems to be electing people to important offices year-round for some reason.

But a lot of important decisions are made at the local level about taxation, development, where roads go, whether you can panhandle at the intersection near your house, where you can put up a sign for your business, what kind of public transportation system you’ll have and more other stuff than you could probably imagine unless you were elected.

In a world where so many hear “politician” when the phrase “public servant” is said, these are offices where you really can serve your community.

Call this a Brent hunch, but I’ll bet that as the federal government turns into an even-more-powerful black hole we’ll eventually see a shift back to local control. What other choice is there?

That means you, state senators and representatives. And it also means you, mayors and alderpersons, if that’s a word. These are important seats. I wish that more people wanted them.

Congress, unfortunately, seems to be the exclusive province of people who can’t get rich any other way. The Legislature, far from being the occasional body once intended, is in session for so long that only a certain slice of society can take enough time away from home and work to take part.

But at the municipal level, you can have a local impact in the amount of time you might spend volunteering at church or hanging out at the Moose lodge.

The filing period began last Friday. By my count, we’ve had one non-incumbent file to run.

A gentleman who ran unsuccessfully two years ago dropped off a new photo of himself here at the newspaper but has yet to file. Maybe he’s busy. Or scraping together $10. Or trying to decide whether to go through with it.

I’m not trying to make work for incumbents. This isn’t a “throw the bums out” column. I’d just like to see more people interested in running.

And look, let me get this out of the way: I’m not running.

Being on a town board is a thankless job. First, there are the meetings. I’ve been to a lot of town council and board meetings in my day and they can be interminably long-winded and slow moving.

Then there are the complaints. Every neighborly dispute, tax bill tiff and complaint about someone’s water being turned off lands on your plate, often by way of a phone call during “Big Brother.”

It’s more than I could bear. But I’m lazy and selfish.

You’re not! Your community needs you!

It’s thankless work. But work worth doing always is.

The board of elections office is open until 5 p.m. today.

City editor Brent Lancaster can be reached at blancaster@thetimesnews.com or 336-506-3040. Follow him at twitter.com/tnbrentl.